


If your heart skips a beat (stay on your feet)

by minkhollow



Series: I think I see a spark [2]
Category: Persona 3
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arisato Twins, Multi, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-01-12 14:49:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18448790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkhollow/pseuds/minkhollow
Summary: In 2009, a pair of twins move back to Iwatodai after nearly a decade away.  This changes an already-altered playing field, and begins the last year of the Dark Hour's existence.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Go read 'Giving me a second sight' first, or this probably won't make much sense. XD
> 
> Soulmates are not necessarily romantic pairings/trios, so much as someone who Really Gets You. A couple more pairs are going to enter the story in this arc, as it progresses.
> 
> I'm doing a little mix-and-match with the protag duo's stable of canon names (dear Atlus: _please pick just one for P6_ ).

Yukari doesn’t get much mail, but she still checks her mailbox at the dorm every day before she heads to school. She fell into the habit in middle school, when it turned out to be easier to get rid of stuff from her mom while she was out during the day than in the dorm, where someone else might ask why she never wants to talk to her own mother.

She pulls a thick envelope with her mother’s current return address out of the box, scowls, and shoves the letter into the bottom of her bag as she slams her mailbox shut. Great, wonderful, _perfect_. Just what she needs – a whole day to look forward to another guilt trip about how her mom’s just trying to move on, almost an entire decade later. Yukari would rather never have a soulmate, at this point.

Not if this is what happens when you lose them.

She all but bites Junpei’s head off when he tries to ask her what’s wrong; at least he’s learned sometime over the last couple years not to follow up with a ‘that time of the month’ crack, or she’d seriously consider putting an arrow through his shoulder. (Later, she thinks he probably didn’t deserve to be snapped at, for once, but this is not her most rational of mornings.) She doesn’t open the letter until after archery practice, where she obliterated one of the older targets to the point where it can’t be salvaged – but better the target than Junpei’s shoulder, probably.

There’s an envelope inside the envelope, one that’s been opened once already, and Yukari’s breath deserts her when she sees the _to my family_ on the front. Even after so long, she knows her father’s handwriting; this must be the letter he put in the Moonlight Bridge time capsule. She’d nearly forgotten about that, but it was a ten-year capsule, wasn’t it?

_You’re so small right now, but in ten years, you’ll be sixteen. You’ll be in high school._

Yukari brings her hands to her mouth, stifling a laugh. ‘To his family,’ huh? She hasn’t even made it out of the first paragraph and it’s practically all about her. That must be why her mother sent it along.

_I swear to you that nothing is more important to me than you and your mother… No matter what happens in the next ten years, I hope you’re happy._

Well, she could be happier. He could still be with them. Someone else could have been blamed for the explosion that took his life. Her mother could be less of a nervous wreck dishonoring her dad’s memory by hooking up with any guy who’s nice to her for five consecutive minutes. But the letter does make her smile, like he’d hoped it would when he wrote it – even if Yukari has to spend a good half an hour fighting back tears so she can focus on her studying for finals.

Even then, her mind keeps circling back to one line in the letter: _Kirijo-san appointed me Head Researcher._ Any other year and she might not think anything of it, but there’s a member of the Kirijo family at Gekkoukan this year – and she’ll be there next year, too. Maybe that’s her way in. Maybe, if she plays her cards right, she can learn more about what really happened the night her father died.

The next day, Yukari heads for the student council room after school. They’re not having meetings, with finals so close, but it seems like her best chance of catching Kirijo-senpai without either of those two guys she’s always with. This is going to be hard enough without witnesses biased against her.

It pays off; Kirijo-senpai looks up from an array of textbooks and notes when Yukari opens the door. (Any other time she’d feel worse about interrupting someone else’s studying, but not now.) “May I help you?”

“I think so.” Yukari takes a deep breath. “My name is Takeba Yukari. I think my father used to work for your family?”

For her trouble, Yukari gets the rare sight of Kirijo-senpai being caught off guard the moment she hears Yukari’s family name. “The group did employ a Takeba at one time, yes. I’m sorry for your family’s loss.”

“Thank you, but that’s not why I came to talk to you. I want to know more about the project he was made head researcher on before… before the accident.” She knows he was blamed for the explosion – and so began her mother’s odyssey across Japan in search of comfort – but that can’t be the whole story. It doesn’t make sense that her dad would’ve been anything more than a convenient scapegoat, because how is a dead guy supposed to say he did or didn’t do something?

“I see.” Kirijo-senpai is quiet for the longest minute of Yukari’s life. “True understanding will require you to take a step into the unknown, and it isn’t one you will be able to look away from. Are you prepared for that?”

“I’m going to have to be if I want some answers, aren’t I?”

“That you are. I’ll need to make some other arrangements before we can discuss the matter further, and that will have to wait until after exams. I’ll let you know when everything is in place.”

After exams, it turns out that what needed to be in place was an invitation to spend the night in another dorm entirely. Yukari doesn’t understand; she understands even less when she gets there and finds Kirijo-senpai _and_ the two guys she’s always with hanging out in the lounge. They sit Yukari down in one of the armchairs, and give her dinner (it turns out the scary-looking guy is one hell of a cook), and keep her talking, and before she knows it it’s midnight.

Her world immediately turns on its head when the lights go out and something about the darkness outside shifts. One of the guys (the one on the boxing team, she thinks) explains the Dark Hour, but Yukari only half processes it.

“…Is this what Dad was researching?”

“No,” Kirijo-senpai says, after a long-feeling pause. “The Dark Hour is the result of the research your father was a part of going wrong, somehow. I don’t know all of the details myself, but I do know that retaining consciousness during the Dark Hour is the first step to potentially being able to help put an end to it.”

That helps center her again. She could help stop this. She could clear her father’s name. She could be useful. She doesn’t have to turn her back on her dad’s memory.

“Count me in.”

***

Minako has never experienced the Dark Hour the same way as her brother.

That isn’t to say she’s never experienced the Dark Hour; they’ve both been aware of it since they were kids, no matter where they were living, even for the two horrible years they had to live in different prefectures. But something happened around the time they noticed it.

Before the accident, everything was normal. After the accident, they had no parents and Makoto complained about everything looking weird. Minako has no idea what her brother means when he says the night sky turns green for a while at midnight; he didn’t even have words for it himself for ages, and they’ve never met anyone else who knows what’s going on at night to ask them.

At least she can agree that the Dark Hour makes water look like blood, even if she doesn’t know what Makoto means by ‘red,’ either.

They’re going to have to move again at the end of the school year. Their grandmother’s health is failing, and she’s said outright she’d rather see them go out into the world and succeed than put their energy into caring for her. Of course, the rest of their extended family seems to have other ideas and won’t take them back. They’re not even sixteen yet – they shouldn’t have to worry about whether they’re going to be homeless within the next two months. Among other things, the situation’s making it difficult to concentrate on finals.

On the next-to-last day of exams, Makoto finds her after school with a decidedly uncharacteristic spring in his step. “I think I found something for next year. Want to go back to Iwatodai?”

Minako nearly drops her bag. “We could go home?”

“Gekkoukan has good scholarships and plenty of dorm space. We’d be on our own, but… well, the best I’ve heard from the family is that _I_ could move in with Uncle Saburo again, but he’d expect you to stay here and take care of Grandma.”

Makoto’s not a very expressive guy; he never has been. But Minako’s not his twin sister for nothing, and she can see the little tells on his face, the set to his eyes and very faint scowl, that say he considers that option to not be an option at all. She knows he’d sooner stay and take care of their grandmother himself than ask her to throw away her future for a dying woman who’s already given them both her blessing to leave, but seeing it still makes her all but sag with relief.

“Yeah, screw _that_. I don’t want to be separated from you again if we can help it, and frankly, going home sounds like the best news I’ve heard in ages. Let’s do it.”

Confirmation of their enrollment in Gekkoukan for the next school year comes in on their birthday, which Minako finds incredibly fitting. Maybe it’s weird that she still thinks of Iwatodai as home after so long, but it’s not like they’ve ever really settled into things anywhere else. Sure, it won’t be the same without their parents there, but what _has_ been the same without them?

The end of the school year and spring break seem to fly by, and before she knows it they’re on the train to Iwatodai. Delays have it running late enough that Minako finds herself unable to stop bouncing her feet, peering out the window for the change in lighting that comes with the Dark Hour. To everyone else it probably looks like Makoto’s zoning out with his headphones on, but his worry shows in his shoulders.

Fortunately, the train only rolls to a stop because they’ve reached their destination, but they still agree with nothing more than a shared glance as they grab their bags to walk to the dorm they’ve been put in for the time being (supposedly a temporary arrangement, but neither of them can figure out why). Their grandmother sent them with more than enough money to grab a taxi, sure, but…

Well, they’ve already been in one horrible accident on account of a car’s driver suddenly being a coffin. Minako’s in no hurry to repeat the experience, and she doubts Makoto is either.

The Dark Hour justifies their paranoia by sweeping over town when they’re maybe halfway to their destination. Makoto pulls off his headphones with a sigh; Minako would be right there with him, if she’d bothered trying to distract herself with music that she knew would give out sooner or later.

“Home sweet home, huh,” Makoto says.

“Just when I thought this couldn’t get any creepier.” There’s a giant tower dominating the skyline, one Minako doesn’t remember from their childhood – or five minutes ago, for that matter – but it’s well out of the way of where they’re headed, and she’s not about to suggest any detours they don’t need to take right now. The key to being outside at this time of night is to stay out as little as possible, so they’re better served if they keep moving.

“We’ll be fine, we’re almost there.”

It’s only a few blocks, but doing just about anything at this time of night feels like it takes an eternity. They reach the dorm and let themselves in without incident, and then Makoto promptly spaces out, moving toward the dorm’s front desk like he’s listening to someone and… signing the desk register? Minako has to shake his shoulder to snap him out of it, which is almost more worrying than the stupor itself.

“Minako? Are you all right?”

“I should be the one asking _you_ that, Mister Stare Into Space.”

“Sorry.” Makoto scrubs a hand across his face. “I just thought it’d be rude to ignore the kid, is all.”

“What kid?” Minako asks, and jumps when someone else asks the same question at nearly the same time. There’s a big guy with a beanie at the foot of the stairs, watching them both carefully.

“Are you sure you didn’t see him? He was right there.” Makoto waves a hand at the very empty space behind the front desk. “Striped pajamas, dark hair, bright blue eyes – well, not that you’d know from blue.”

The big guy frowns a little – thoughtful, not menacing, if his lack of expression is anything like Makoto’s. “Nobody I’ve seen before. Maybe it was just travel fatigue.”

“Maybe,” Minako agrees, but she’s not sure she believes it. Still, she’d rather press Makoto on what exactly happened in private.

“Senpai? Who are you talking—” Someone else comes down the stairs – a girl in a cardigan – and cuts herself off with a gasp. “How did they even get here?”

“We walked,” Makoto says; the big guy snorts.

“That’s not what I meant.” Before the girl can explain, the dorm’s lights come back on and the distant hum of the refrigerator kicks in. Minako starts to relax, and then sees what the girl’s carrying.

“Is that a _gun_?”

“Uh.” The girl shifts her hands (and the gun) behind her back. “No. No, it’s not. Who are you?”

“They’re the transfer students,” the big guy says. “Ikutsuki claimed this was gonna be a short-term thing until he could straighten shit out with the other dorms.”

“But… is it okay for them to be _here_?” Minako wonders what this girl’s problem is, and finds herself hoping they do get to stay here for the rest of the year. Having to live in a different part of town than Makoto wouldn’t be as bad as being halfway across the country, but this is obviously a rare co-ed dorm, and she’d like to be in the same building if she can.

“Got here in one piece, didn’t they? Take her upstairs, Yukari. I got the other one.” The big guy taps Makoto on the shoulder and leads him upstairs, leaving Minako alone with Yukari.

“Honestly, Shinjiro-senpai, would it kill you to at least introduce yourself?” Yukari sighs. “We’re on the third floor – I think the room Mitsuru-senpai cleared out for you is at the end of the hall on the right, so if you need anything, I’m across and to the left. She’s directly across the way, but you might want to wait until you’ve been introduced, and _definitely_ don’t go in without knocking.”

“I don’t, usually.” Not unless she’s barging in on her brother, and even then, Makoto’s apparent inability to tell girls no has slowed her down there.

“Good,” Yukari says, with the look of someone who’s seen a lot more than she ever wanted to. By that point they’ve hit the third floor; she opens the door at the end of the hall, and smiles. “I was right! Here you go. Oh, and… tomorrow, don’t mention anything you saw tonight at school, all right?”

Minako shrugs. “No one’s believed us about the weird stuff before. I really don’t think they’d start now.”

Yukari blinks. “Um… right. Well, goodnight.”

With that she leaves, so Minako heads into her room, shuts the door, fishes out a pair of pajamas, and flops into bed. She should probably shower, but the last thing she wants to do after all that travel is stand up any longer.

More people who can see the Dark Hour, huh? This year’s going to get interesting fast.

***

“So, how’s the new kid hook two cuties on his arms on the first day of school? You gotta let me in on your secret, dude.”

Emo Haircut – what’d the teacher say his name was? Makoto? – blinks at Junpei like he didn’t understand a word he just said. Before he can say anything, the new girl cracks up.

“We’re all in the same dorm _and_ he’s my brother. Besides, there’s only so much room on that monorail, like half the school comes to school together.” Then she grins, a spark of pure mischief in her eyes. “Takeba-san _is_ pretty cute, though, I gotta agree. It’d be a coup for both of us if she wasn’t just making sure we got here in one piece.”

Yuka-tan splutters, something about not encouraging him, but Junpei’s too busy grinning back. Oh, he likes her already. Finally, someone around here who might actually appreciate his jokes. (Finally, someone around here who might want him around, god knows nobody else does.)

“He always this quiet?”

“Usually, yeah. He likes to say I talk enough for both of us. As far as I can tell, the secret to his success is a chronic inability to tell girls no – not a tactic I recommend picking up.”

Emo Haircut sighs. “Minako, please. I know how to say no.”

“And yet, you never seem to. Try to leave a few girls for the rest of us here, brother dear, will you?” Junpei can’t read the look Emo Haircut gives Minako in response to that line, but she doesn’t seem too bothered by it. He can’t be too upset, then.

“Anyway,” Junpei says, “I’ve been the transfer kid myself, so if you two need anything around school just say the word, okay? I got your backs.” That gets him a nod (Makoto) and a more effusive thank-you (Minako), before Yuka-tan takes off to archery practice and the twins leave to have a look around town. Get re-acclimated, Minako calls it.

Upshot, though: Junpei’s alone. Again. Fuck.

Gekkoukan refuses to consider a baseball team, for some stupid reason. He’s not really into any other sports, none of the cultural clubs have ever caught his eye, and he loathes studying with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. The benefits of joining student council (staring at Kirijo-senpai all meeting) are vastly outweighed by the drawbacks (Odagiri’s complete lack of chill, and also, Kirijo-senpai is _scary_ ). He only sticks around on cleaning duty days because he has to. Kenji wouldn’t shut up all spring break about how he finally had a plan to date one of their teachers, and even Junpei’s not that desperate.

There’s nothing for him to do at school, and going home means dealing with his dad, and his dad hasn’t been worth the time of day since Junpei was in grade school. He just wants to not have to think about things for a while. He just wants to matter, make a difference, leave some kind of mark on the world, feel alive and not like he’s just going through the motions.

He ends up holing up in the manga cafe for the afternoon, then getting a burger at Wild Duck before going home. His dad’s already incoherent-drunk, too busy ranting at the evening news to notice Junpei coming in, so that’s one bullet dodged tonight. He’ll be passed out by the time Junpei goes to bed.

He does actually look at his textbooks, but there’s not really much in the way of homework yet – not in the first couple days, when they haven’t had the full rotation of teachers yet and the teachers are still spelling out their expectations for the year – and he’s not about to do more than a cursory glance anyway. He tries a video game, but for some reason it’s not holding his attention like it usually does, and he gives up after the third time he dies on a level he shouldn’t have any problems with.

It’s after eleven, but fuck it, he needs to get _out_ of here before he does something he’ll regret. The last thing he wants to do is turn into his dad; trashing his room (well, more than it’s trashed by his everyday life) would be the first step on a slippery slope. Fortunately, his dad’s passed out in front of the TV, which has moved on to late-night comedy programming. All the better for him to slip out of the house.

His whole relaxation plan goes right the hell out the window when he walks out of the convenience store, something in the air shifts, and suddenly the people loitering outside the store have been replaced by coffins. Junpei’s not ashamed to say it completely freaks him the _hell out_ , especially when he can’t get the store’s automatic door to budge.

He’s halfway to hyperventilating when something grabs his shoulder, which only freaks him out more; he swats the thing away from him, and it says, “Ow. Hey, just breathe, okay?”

Wait. That’s not a thing, it’s a person – and he sounds vaguely familiar. Junpei opens his eyes. “Sanada-senpai? What’re you doing out here? How are you not one of those coffins?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” Sanada-senpai says, “but the short version is, you’re not alone. And if you’re awake now, you might be able to lend us a hand.”

“Lend you a hand? You’d want my help with something? Oh, man, count me the hell in.”

That gets him a quick smile. “All right then. It might take a few days to get everything ready, but I’ll let you know when everything’s all set. In the meantime… it’s normal not to remember much about the Dark Hour at first, but if you do, don’t talk about it at school, all right? It’d just cause a panic.”

Sanada-senpai insists on making sure Junpei gets back to his house in one piece, for some reason. The lights and TV are off, and he very carefully doesn’t look at the couch. When he flops onto his bed, he starts crying again, but this time it’s out of relief. Maybe, just maybe, he’s finally found a place where he can belong.

***

This is such bullshit.

Aki went out to run another test on the full-moon theory; when Shinji said he shouldn’t go alone, Aki said he’d grab Ken on the way, which is _not what Shinji meant_. But Yukari still can’t manage to put her Evoker to her head, and Ikutsuki’s insisting on monitoring the twins overnight, so Mitsuru’s stuck in the command room, and Shinji’s pretty sure, for some reason, that the dorm is where he needs to be. At least Ken’s there to be picked up, and now they can work on getting him moved into the dorm so he’s left out of less.

“How are they, Mitsuru?”

“The same as last night, sir.”

Shinji sighs. “Coulda told you that. Oh no, wait, I _did_ tell you that. They got here during the Dark Hour the other night and they were _just fine_ , so why are you still doin’ the surveillance bullshit?”

“I’m with Shinjiro-senpai,” Yukari says from the console’s second chair. Shinji wasn’t really expecting the backup, but hell, he’ll take it. “We shouldn’t be treating them like guinea pigs, especially if you have reason to believe something might happen tonight. We should be preparing them for that chance, not watching them sleep.”

Mitsuru doesn’t say anything – she doesn’t even look away from the console – but there’s a slight shift in her posture that Shinji would bet is her kicking herself for falling back on protocol just because Ikutsuki said so.

“Ideally, the observation period helps us determine how suitable a candidate is,” Ikutsuki says. “And after all, it’s imperative that we recruit new members.”

“First, observation doesn’t mean shit until you get ‘em in a fight. Second, worst case, they say no and that guy Aki bumped into the other night doesn’t pan out, we still have five people now. That was your goal, wasn’t it?”

Yukari turns in her seat, frowning. “Wait, what guy?” Before Shinji can answer, though, the console pings with an incoming message, which Mitsuru takes.

“Akihiko? What is it?”

“You’re not gonna believe this – this thing is huge.” Aki sounds half winded, but the constant thud of his footsteps says he’s still on the move. “No time to talk, but we’re almost there. I wanted to give you a heads-up.”

“You’re bringing it _here_?” Yukari, to her credit, is already out of her seat.

“It was that or it destroys someone’s house,” Ken chimes in – he sounds even more winded than Aki. “At least at the dorm we all know what’s happening.”

“Ikutsuki-san, you’ll be safest here,” Mitsuru says, already falling into battle mode. “Shinjiro, Takeba, you two collect the twins and get them to safety. I’ll join Akihiko and Amada downstairs.”

Shinji nods, grabs his axe and one of Mitsuru’s spare swords, and heads down to the second floor after making sure Yukari’s got something to hand off to Minako. He’s not exactly fond of this division of labor, but Aki, Mitsuru and Ken can take care of themselves, and it makes sense – absolute worst case, Yukari and the twins will need someone who knows what they’re doing on hand.

He only has to knock twice before Makoto opens the door (the alarm Mitsuru set off before heading downstairs probably helped that along, though); Makoto blinks like he’s still half asleep. “What’s going on?”

“Aki brought some trouble our way. Take this, we’re going to the roof.” He passes over the sword, and Makoto blinks at that too, but follows quickly enough.

“Minako says the roof is never safe in movies.”

“This ain’t a movie, but it probably won’t be much better. What d’you think the sword’s for?”

“Shinjiro, Takeba, be careful!” Mitsuru cuts in – Shinji still doesn’t really understand how she uses her Persona to do that. “The Shadow we’re fighting isn’t the one Akihiko and Amada saw!”

“ _Fuck_. Come on, kid.”

Yukari and Minako reach the access door not far behind them – apparently, Yukari tried to go out the back door first, and changed course after Mitsuru updated them. They have about two seconds to catch their breath on the roof before a positively huge Shadow blob that’s more hands than body crawls up the side of the building.

“I can do some damage here, but I can’t take it on alone,” Shinji says.

Yukari takes a deep breath. “I… I can do this. No problem.”

Except it _is_ a problem; she hesitates so long that the Shadow manages to take a swipe at her, knocking her Evoker out of her hands. It clatters to a stop at Makoto’s feet, and in a fucking stupid show of faith, considering no one’s bothered to actually explain Evokers to the twins yet, he picks it up, puts it to his own head, and fires.

Makoto gets a robot with a harp for his trouble, and he and Shinji tag-team the Shadow for a while. It swipes at Makoto next, and he’s not battle-ready enough to keep his grip on the Evoker – but his sister turns out to be just as brave. Or just as stupid, Shinji’s not sure. Minako’s Persona, a feminine figure with oak leaves in her hair and a viper twining around her leg, joins in on the fight as easily as the first time Aki summoned Polydeuces.

Then the Shadow turns on Minako and knocks her down, and Makoto’s harp robot _explodes_. It’s the only way Shinji can think to describe it, considering something rips its way out of the Persona and then tears the Shadow completely to shreds – the Persona recovers its original shape afterward, so whatever the hell that was, it doesn’t seem to have been a big problem.

In the silence that follows, Yukari says, “Well, now I feel _really_ useless.”

Shinji sighs, and passes her his own Evoker. “Patch us up if you can, and we’ll call it even.”

It turns out she can patch them up, which is good. Shinji’s never picked up any healing crap, which means everyone else who can is all the way downstairs, and who knows if they’re still busy.

“’nako?”

“Crap, that hurt.” Minako hauls herself back to her feet. “I’m right here, Mako, don’t panic.”

“Oh, good.” And with that, Makoto collapses like someone just cut his strings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given the influx of SEES' younger members turning up, I knew this would have to be chapter 1 of part 2, rather than chapter 5 of part 1. (That said, since three out of four narrators haven't stumbled into color vision yet, please do let me know if one of them uses a color descriptor! I almost did a couple times and may not have caught myself every time. XD)
> 
> Continuing the Persona-variation trend Ken began: Minako's not a Wild Card in this 'verse, and in any case her brother already has Orpheus. Instead, she's got Eurydice! (She and Makoto are going to Not Think About the fact that their purses are married.) Unlike Ken, I already know what the evolution is for her.


	2. Chapter 2

The seniors waste no time getting Makoto to the only Dark-Hour-equipped hospital in town – and one of their own, who apparently sustained an arm injury of some kind in the downstairs portion of the night’s fun, and maybe also a cracked rib. Minako’s not really clear on the details there, since she’s more focused on her brother’s condition. She does notice there’s a kid around this time, though, but everyone else is talking to him so he’s probably not whatever kid Makoto saw the other night.

(Seriously, who dragged a _grade-schooler_ into this.)

The doctor insists on looking Minako over too, since she’s there, but she gets a clean bill of health and orders to go home and sleep; she’d rather be glued to Makoto’s side, but as far as they can tell, he’s just exhausted and should be fine. Staying won’t wake him up any faster, so she does go home, and sleeps like the dead as soon as her head hits her pillow.

She wakes up, _way_ past the time she’d need to leave for school, to a knock on her door. “Shiomi? You should come downstairs and eat something. Shinjiro made lunch.”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” Somehow, Minako was not expecting Mitsuru-senpai to skip school herself, but that was definitely her, and she’s still in the hall when Minako gets dressed and heads out. “And seriously, just use my given name, it’ll make things easier when Makoto’s better. Any word on him yet?”

“He’s still asleep. The doctor said he could recover anywhere from this afternoon to two weeks from now, and we should continue as normal until then. As for Akihiko, he’ll be home this evening – it turned out he didn’t suffer anything worse than sprains, but he’ll still need to rest.”

“I’ve been here for three days and I can already tell that’s gonna go over about as well as asking me to pretend everything’s normal for two weeks.” Still, at least they’re in the same town this time, and Minako’s pretty sure she’ll be the first to know when Makoto does recover. “What are you even doing here? I figured you’d be right back to school.”

“Three people under my care were hurt. That’s the sort of thing I take seriously.”

Minako can’t really argue with that, so she doesn’t.

Lunch smells delicious, looks even better, and tastes _amazing_ ; Shinjiro-senpai waves off Minako’s compliments to the chef, but he’s smiling. Weird as it is that this dorm doesn’t seem to have any official adult staff, if he does this kind of thing regularly, they probably don’t need it.

“I’d been hoping to debrief you both at the same time,” Mitsuru-senpai says, as they finish eating, “but there’s little sense in making you wait weeks for answers, and it seems I don’t need to explain quite as much as I usually do. How long have you and your brother been aware of the Dark Hour?”

Minako shrugs. “We were kids – sometime around the accident that killed our parents. At this point I couldn’t say if the change happened right away or not, but we thought it was just us for a long time.”

The seniors trade a look she can’t make sense of, before Shinjiro-senpai fixes his gaze on her. “What about his color vision?”

“That was _definitely_ the night of the accident. He spent the next day complaining that everything looked weird, but we’ve never figured out who’s on the other end. All I know for sure is it’s definitely not me.”

“Huh.” He goes quiet again, eventually grabbing the empty lunch dishes and heading for the kitchen, and Mitsuru-senpai fills in some of the gaps in Minako’s knowledge of the Dark Hour. The weird sky, coffins, lack of electronics and distended passage of time aren’t new by any stretch; even the monsters aren’t exactly a surprise, even if last night was Minako’s first real encounter with them. Personas, though – those are new. (And a little disturbing, now that she’s actually thinking about the summoning mechanism; last night she was less worried about ‘shoot yourself in the head for fun and profit’ and more worried about helping her brother out of a jam.

Maybe, given the whole ‘exploding harp robot’ thing, she hadn’t needed to be.)

“So what’s the deal with the kid?” she asks, then pauses. “Both kids, really – the one who’s definitely here and the one who’s apparently only visible to Mako.”

“Amada lost his mother in a Shadow attack,” Mitsuru-senpai says. “He is the same age I was when I first summoned my Persona, and with that precedent, we felt it best to let him make the attempt. So far he hasn’t been a formal member of the group, but as it looks like our activity levels are about to increase, we’ll be moving him into the dorm this weekend. As for your brother’s mystery guest… your guess is as good as mine.”

“Your friend said he thought it might be travel fatigue, but I’m not sure if he was trying to play it off as normal or what.”

“Shinjiro has never been one to tell a pretty lie when an ugly truth will do. If he suggested travel fatigue, then he truly cannot think of a more plausible explanation, though it may later turn out that there is one.”

Minako nods; that does stack with what she’s seen of the guy so far. “So, what, is your usual recruitment strategy to move people in here under false pretenses and then throw monsters at them after a couple nights?”

“Standard protocol does call for at least one overnight observation,” Mitsuru-senpai says, but she at least has the good grace to look sheepish. “I should have listened to Shinjiro when he said you both got here in one piece during the Dark Hour, but Ikutsuki-san insisted on the observation window being upheld. Believe it or not, the giant Shadow wasn’t intentional – we’ve never seen one that big before, and thought it would stay at ground level, where our most experienced fighters were. That said, it’s true that we need more members on our team, and we’d be very glad to have you both.”

“I’m not committing to anything until Makoto’s awake. We don’t like keeping secrets from each other, so it’s both of us or neither.” She can’t really see her brother saying no, for completely different reasons than his girl problems – the Dark Hour’s unsettled them both for nearly a decade now, and they’d be happy to see the back of it. If they can help get rid of it, so much the better.

“Understood. I’ll keep you apprised to his condition as I get updates from the hospital.” Mitsuru-senpai excuses herself and heads upstairs, on that note; after a minute or so, Minako gets up to see if she can help clean up the kitchen any. It barely looks like lunch for three was just made at all, but she does pick up a towel and start drying dishes.

“So why did _you_ stay here?”

“Didn’t feel like sitting through all the useless teachers today,” Shinjiro-senpai says, in a show of blunt honesty that makes Minako laugh. “Besides, somebody had to make sure you two got a good lunch.”

“There’s food here. I’m sure I could have managed something. Not that I actually mind a little pampering, though.” Halfway through drying a glass, she realises she has no idea where the dishes actually go in this kitchen yet; fortunately, there’s enough clear counter space to set it down and move on to the next one. “Why’d you ask about Makoto’s color vision, anyway?”

“It’s just been me and Aki and Mitsuru for a while now. Someone else mentioning a color detail stood out. Cabinet next to the fridge.”

The last sentence throws Minako for a loop until she figures out what he meant – it must be where the glasses go, and sure enough, there are several others there when she takes the two dry glasses to put them away. “Fair enough, but at this point, if we ever figure out who his other half is I’m gonna be very surprised. Or other… two-thirds, I guess?”

“He ever mention only having part of the spectrum?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Other half, then. He’d know if some of it was missing.” Shinjiro-senpai wipes down the counter, washes his hands, and steals Minako’s towel to dry them off. “Anything else you didn’t wanna ask Mitsuru?”

“…You’d understand if I asked for help finding whatever the hell it is they were using for the ‘observation’ in my and Mako’s rooms and making it go away before he’s out of the hospital, right?”

Shinjiro-senpai smiles, there and gone in a flash. “First thing I did when I moved in was put a towel over the fucking camera. You got it.”

***

Ken’s kind of a weird kid. Minako thinks it’s a good kind of weird, but the fact remains that he’s _way_ too serious for a ten-year-old. Then again, she could’ve said the same thing about Makoto, when they were ten; when she looks at it through that lens, Ken seems a lot less weird. He’s already been through a hell of a lot.

On her way into school the next day, Junpei catches sight of her and flags her down. “Hey, welcome back! Where were you yesterday? For that matter, where’d your brother disappear to?”

“Oh, he came down with the Port Island Death Plague.” Minako’s fighting to keep her face deadly serious, and manages to keep from laughing for a good twenty seconds, just as Junpei’s starting to splutter his way through a response. “Man, your face! Mako just managed to completely wear himself out – might be related to the move out here. He’s sleeping it off at the hospital.”

“Dude, don’t yank my chain like that! I thought something was seriously wrong for a second there!” Junpei’s smiling, though, so Minako’s pretty sure he’s not _really_ upset. “Hey, wanna go grab some ramen after school? If you don’t have to go to the hospital.”

“Ramen sounds a lot better than watching my brother sleep.” And Mitsuru-senpai’s planning to be there, if she has the time. And Junpei looks about ready to burst at the seams over something, so it’s probably a better use of everyone’s time if he gets to get it off his chest. Makoto won’t begrudge her a chance to make some friends just because he Persona’d himself unconscious.

(How would she even begin to explain that, anyway? She’s a little surprised she managed to talk around what exactly happened the other night so smoothly.)

When they walk into Hagakure after school, the scent practically wallops Minako upside the head. She hasn’t been here since she was five – their dad took them out for a Golden Week treat, if she remembers right. Funny, how she can barely recall the sound of his voice anymore, but the smell of a ramen shop instantly pulled something forward.

“God, I’ve missed this place,” she says, instead of talking about any of that heavy stuff.

Junpei grins. “Girl after my own heart. Hey, I’d like a special and… what do you want?”

“Make that two specials and a gyoza plate.” She’s starving, all of a sudden – maybe it’s pushing past that sudden onslaught of nostalgia and grief.

They’re halfway through their food when Junpei stops marveling over Minako’s stomach capacity and pauses, like he’s finally working up to whatever it is that’s got him so antsy. “So I’m moving to one of the dorms next weekend.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“Well, I haven’t really wanted to be at home for a while now. And, uh.” Junpei goes quiet again, stirring the last few noodles around his bowl with his chopsticks. “I’m not really supposed to talk about this, but… something really weird happened the other night.”

Minako has to fight back a possibly misplaced surge of hope. She wouldn’t wish the Dark Hour on anyone, but now that she _can_ share this secret with someone other than Makoto, she kind of wants to. Besides, if it’s a different ‘something really weird,’ that’s probably going to be a complication they don’t need.

“Weird how?” she says, trying to play it casual.

“Dude, I don’t even know how to describe it. I went out to get a midnight snack and suddenly everything was—”

“The moon got weird, the lights went out and you were in the company of coffins?”

Junpei drops his chopsticks, gaping at her. “How did you know?”

“Welcome to the world’s suckiest club, my dude. Mako and I thought we were the only ones for the longest time.” Minako can’t contain a grin. “So I bet I know which dorm you’re moving to, too. You need any help packing?”

“Nah. My room’s a wreck, and… I don’t wanna inflict my dad on _me_ , never mind anyone else.” He looks so glum that Minako nearly presses the point – but only nearly, since Junpei almost immediately brightens. “Wait, you’re saying _your_ dorm’s headquarters for all this stuff? So I get to move in with Yuka-tan?”

“I mean, if you invade her room it’s on your head, but in general, yeah. Her, me, Makoto whenever he wakes up, three seniors and a random grade-schooler. If anyone else turns out to fit their criteria, they’ll probably get moved in too.”

“Sweet! Akihiko-san didn’t say it was a co-ed dorm.”

Minako rolls her eyes. “He probably didn’t think it was important, never mind that all three of the seniors hang out in Mitsuru-senpai’s room a lot.” She really doesn’t know how the school hasn’t picked up on how close the three of them are, but maybe Mitsuru-senpai goes and scares the hell out of anyone who pries into her business.

“Damn, seriously? I woulda looked into the dorms a lot sooner if I knew they came with that kind of gossip. Don’t tell Yuka-tan, though, all right? If she hasn’t heard yet, I wanna see the look on her face when I roll up with all my stuff.”

“Deal.” Minako holds out her hand to shake on it, and Junpei takes it – and they’re immediately derailed by the ramen shop bursting into color around them. So that’s what it looks like. She can’t quite read the way Junpei’s staring at her, but he’s just girl-crazy enough that she knows she has to nip that expectation in the bud, so she gives voice to the part of her that’s a little dismayed.

“Oh, no, I am _way too gay for this_.”

***

Damn, but Minako knows how to kill a mood.

At the same time, though, it’s a relief. Junpei’s always been vaguely terrified of actually finding his soulmate somewhere out there; the way people talk about it, that’s a level of commitment he’s not sure he’s ready for. It’s a level of commitment he’s not sure he’s ever seen in action, considering his dad. What was going to happen if he found his soulmate and she expected to be basically married from the word go?

But here she is, saying she’s not at all interested like that. He wants to be disappointed. Instead, he finds himself laughing. “What, you gonna ask Yuka-tan out yourself?”

“I would, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t swing that way. Not that you can always tell after three whole days’ acquaintance, but.” Minako shrugs. “If the right girl comes along, I’ll know. If not, I have plenty of time. I just hope she doesn’t get sidetracked by my brother.”

“Is he really that much of a chick magnet?”

“ _Yes_! I don’t get it at all! He ends up with like five girlfriends because he doesn’t know how to tell any of them no and somehow they don’t blame him _or_ each other for it! He needs to leave some for everyone else!”

She’d told her brother that last part on the first day of school, but Junpei’s seeing it in a whole different light now. He also hasn’t stopped laughing yet. “I dunno, man, sounds to me like he’s living the dream.”

“If by ‘the dream’ you mean ‘a life of constant terror that one day all his girlfriends are going to maul him,’ then sure.” Minako spears the last of the gyoza platter with a chopstick – seriously, how does she still have room for more food? – and takes a bite of it before adding, “Even he doesn’t know how he’s such a charisma bucket. It’s not like he’s any of their soulmate or anything.”

“It isn’t?”

“Nah, he bumped into someone when we were little. We still don’t know who. I guess I was still holding out hope for a romantic connection despite that example, but… looks like the world had other ideas.”

“Yeah, looks like.” Junpei sighs. “Man, tonight’s gonna be weird as hell, isn’t it?”

“No kidding. Are you sure you don’t want help packing up at your dad’s house?”

Dammit, he thought he’d gotten away from the topic of his dad. On the other hand, that was before they shook hands, and there’s genuine concern on Minako’s face; he probably owes her a straighter answer than the one he already gave her.

“I’m sure,” he says. “Dad’s… probably drunk already, and I have no idea how he’d react to me bringing a girl home. I mean it when I say no one deserves his crap. Besides, if I pack on my own he’s less likely to notice until after I’m gone.”

“Fair enough, but if things get hairy you let me know. If you don’t think it’s safe for me to go there, I’ll send one of the guys to loom at him – between the star of the boxing club and his best friend, I think we got you covered.”

“Not recommending your own brother? That’s cold, Mina-tan.”

“First,” Minako says, leaning over to poke him with the clean end of her now gyoza-free chopstick, “don’t ever call me that again. Second, Mako may not be back on his feet when you’re moving – I sure as hell hope so, but the doctors said it could be as long as two weeks. Third? He’s _really_ not physically intimidating. If you need someone to stave off assholery, you do not need my brother.”

“Okay, other than objecting to my _clearly_ awesome nickname stylings, you got a point there. Or two.” It’s funny – he doesn’t feel as shitty as he usually does when he thinks about his dad, or has to acknowledge the man’s existence. Minako’s not lingering on concern or pity, or getting all morbid and asking exactly what his dad gets up to when he’s drunk, but she’s not expecting Junpei to be capable of handling the whole thing alone, either.

He can’t remember the last time someone understood this well.

“My brother has exclusive nickname rights, unless and until I get a girlfriend. We should probably get out of here.”

“Let me walk you back to the dorm?”

Minako rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. “Oh, all right.”

They take the long way back to the dorm, and Minako is good enough not to comment on it, filling the walk with chatter about school, her brother, what she thinks of the dorm’s other residents so far, and how glad she is to be back in Port Island. (He doesn’t realise until later that she avoids talking about family other than Makoto as carefully as he usually avoids any mention of his dad.) They both pause more than once, having read about color but never seen it before, finally putting things in their proper context.

When they can’t stall any longer and approach the dorm, Minako sighs. “Thanks for the company today. It helped keep my mind off the hospital.”

“No problem, dude. Even if it got more dramatic than I expected.”

“I don’t think _anyone_ actually expects that drama. Oh, and Junpei?”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t deserve your dad’s crap, either.” With that and a faint smile, Minako disappears into the dorm; Junpei half feels like he’s been slapped, and half wants to cry with relief, and entirely can’t wait to get moved into the dorm already. The weird thing is, now it’s only a _little_ bit about getting to play hero during the Dark Hour.

***

Other than the dream about the weird blue elevator and the weirder old man with one hell of a nose, Makoto has a lot of dreams about the night his parents died. He knows they’re dreams because the whole thing plays out in vivid color, which it couldn’t have done at the time. He didn’t even notice anything had changed until afterward, when the ambulance got there.

He was too busy trying to shield Minako from… he doesn’t even remember what. That doesn’t stop his mind from playing the accident out over and over again.

The last time, Striped Pajamas Kid is sitting on the wrecked hood of the car, swinging his legs without a care in the world. He looks right at Makoto and says, “It’s all right. I don’t understand the significance of this day yet, either. I’m sure we’ll find it together.”

Then he wakes up, in what is clearly a hospital bed, with a raging headache.

“Jeez, how much sleep do you need? It’s been a week!”

Makoto blinks. Takeba sounds worried, he’ll give her that much, but he can’t think why she’s in the chair next to his bed and not his sister. “Where’s ‘nako?”

“She’s in the hall. I wanted to… apologise, I guess. For going along with not explaining anything before now. It wasn’t fair to either of you.”

Most of Takeba’s ensuing explanation goes in one ear and out the other, but Makoto does his best to nod along. He doesn’t want to upset her by admitting he can’t handle an infodump right now, and Minako will make sure he actually processes anything important. She does mention Personas and Shadows, which mostly stands out because the long-nosed guy did the same. Otherwise it’s a wash.

“…my dad’s gone too,” she’s saying when he finally feels like he can tune in. “Apparently he died in the accident that caused the Dark Hour, but… a lot of people blamed him for the explosion, and I’ve never believed it. I’m hoping that if I stick around I can find out what really happened.” Takeba sighs. “It felt weird, knowing so much about your past when you didn’t know anything of mine. I wanted to get us on a level playing field as soon as I could.”

“Okay.” Makoto’s really not sure what else to say to that, but Takeba doesn’t seem to be insulted by it, at least.

“We’ll explain everything tomorrow.” She gets up, smoothing her skirt on the way up. “I should get going, but you should be able to come back to the dorm now.”

As soon as Takeba’s gone, Minako bursts through the door, all but throwing herself on the bed. It’s a good thing Makoto’s not hooked up to any IVs or anything, or she’d have just ripped them right out of his hand.

“Hello to you too,” he says. “Do you know what that was all about?”

Minako shrugs as best she can while still hugging the stuffing out of him. “I dunno, it seemed like she really wanted to get that off her chest and she’d be hanging around all awkwardly if I didn’t let her go first. Do you need anything?”

“Something for this headache would be nice.”

Minako nods and sits up to hit the nurse call button, and mercifully doesn’t say anything else until after Makoto’s been given some aspirin and a glass of water. The placebo effect of just having taken the aspirin, never mind that it hasn’t had time to kick in yet, helps him reclaim some of his concentration.

“So,” Minako says, “how much of Takeba-san’s stuff did you actually process?”

“Something about her dad, mostly.” And the Persona part, but then he’d have to explain the blue elevator dream, and he’s still not sure how to do that. Minako looks at him like she knows there’s something he’s not telling her, but nods and lets it drop for now.

She’ll probably corner him on it at home.

“Well, good, that means she didn’t snipe the good part. We’re not the only ones in the after-midnight club of suck after all, and for the low, low price of shooting ourselves in the head on the regular, we can help disband that club for good.”

So he didn’t make up the part with the gun. That’s… Makoto’s not sure if that’s a good thing or not, really. Who came _up_ with those things? On the other hand, the Dark Hour is nothing if not unsettling, and he’d be just as glad as Minako to see the back of it.

“Sounds fun,” he says, and Minako grins.

“I was hoping you’d say that. Mitsuru-senpai will probably want to talk to you about it in more detail – maybe also Ikutsuki-san, since he’s officially the adult oversight, but most of what he’s done when he’s been around is crack bad jokes. So far it’s us, the three seniors, Takeba-san, a random grade-schooler they just moved into the dorm, and Junpei’s moving in later this week, but don’t tell Takeba-san that.”

“You’ve been busy.”

“Yeah, it’s been a… colorful week.”

If Minako didn’t already have his undivided attention, she would now. She just smirks when he looks at her, clearly leaving him to puzzle it out for himself. It can’t be Takeba, or she wouldn’t be sticking to her family name. The grade-schooler seems unlikely at best, as does the adult oversight. The seniors, at least in the day or so he had to interact with any of them, came off as pretty tight with each other. There’s a chance it was someone else at school, but Makoto thinks she would have mentioned that.

Of the people she did mention, that leaves Iori, and they certainly hit it off well enough on the first day of school for Makoto to have no trouble believing it. “I’m sorry, ‘nako. I know you were hoping for the grand romance.”

Minako shrugs. “You keep yourself from hogging every girl in the school and I can still have one of those. Come on, brother dear, let’s get you out of here. I have an invisible kid haunting the dorm to grill you relentlessly about.”

***

The twins fix Ikutsuki-san with matching flat looks when he asks if they would believe a day consists of more than 24 hours. Mitsuru would have mistaken it for disbelief herself if she hadn’t already discussed matters with Minako.

“Several years ahead of you,” Minako says. “Skip to the part about helping make it go away.” Shinjiro snorts; Akihiko elbows him in the side (and promptly winces, because that was his injured arm – does she need to sit on him to get him to rest properly?); Ikutsuki-san falters for a moment, but moves on to hauling out the Evokers prepared for the twins.

“On paper, we’re classified as a school club, and I am its advisor,” he says. “But in reality, we’re dedicated to fighting the Shadows. We have one more new recruit moving in tomorrow, and after that, I think we’re more than ready to begin further explorations of Tartarus.”

“Fucking _finally_ ,” Shinjiro mutters. “Be nice if we can get past the same four goddamn floors.”

Iori moving into the dorm takes up most of Sunday afternoon; Takeba is none too pleased to see him, but Minako looks positively delighted, and immediately starts helping him set up his room. By the time dinner rolls around, both of them look far too tired to stand up to Tartarus for long, and the important thing about the early expeditions will be catching the new members up before the next full moon is upon them, so Mitsuru delays the Tartarus trip for a night.

Shinjiro joins her in her bedroom after dinner, stripping down to his boxers and settling into the bed next to her. She can’t deny there are times she wishes he had a more present sex drive, and she knows Akihiko feels similarly, but at least he doesn’t mind physical affection. Her imagination is quite capable of filling in the blanks unless and until such time as he expresses interest. Either way, he’s the glue holding the three of them together.

“You’re worried about Tartarus,” he says without preamble.

“I am, a bit. Sooner or later – probably sooner, frankly – I’m going to reach the limit of Penthesilea’s scanning abilities, and those are crucial to making any headway.”

“Ain’t a problem now, we at least know that much. And we probably won’t make it that far until after the next full moon anyway. You ever figure out that barrier floor you mentioned?”

“I haven’t, unfortunately. Hopefully more explanation will provide us with some answers.” Mitsuru sighs. “I’m also not sure who to send in as field leader. Ordinarily I’d say Akihiko, but if he doesn’t take more time to recover now, he’s going to do himself permanent injury. You’re perpetually uninterested, I have to provide support, and I don’t want to ask them to take orders from Amada. He knows what he’s doing by now, but it would be an awkward dynamic.”

“Have one of them do it, then. One of the twins, since we at least know they can summon on demand – Yukari’s barely there and we haven’t tested out the other guy yet. They’re the ones who need all the practice anyway.”

“It’s not a bad idea, provided none of them choke up under less stress than last week.” She’d still prefer to send them in with one of the more experienced members of the group, but there may not be any convenient way to do that – and Shinjiro does have a point. He, Akihiko and Amada have been stagnating on the floors available to them for some time now.

“If they do, me and Ken will handle it. You really think they’re gonna make it past the first floor on their first try? Now stop worryin’ about it so damn much and get some sleep.”

He doesn’t really _mean_ sleep, and they both know it; she hasn’t managed to get to sleep before the Dark Hour passes since she was twelve, and Shinjiro’s no better at this point. But she allows him to hold her and change the subject, and it does help her get her thoughts more in order.

The twins are the best candidates for temporary field leaders. Takeba’s reservations are likely as not to get the better of her; Iori, so far, seems nearly as hot-headed as Akihiko, but with considerably less direction. That may also make him likely to protest at being pushed aside for someone else, but she can find some other way for him to show his value to the team. After all, he wouldn’t be here if he had none.

_Which_ of the twins should take point is still vexing her the next morning, so Mitsuru settles it by asking them to meet her in the student council room over lunch, so she can put the question to them both.

“Well, if you’re that sure you want one of us, it should be Mako,” Minako says. “I got all the social, but he’s more level-headed.”

Makoto nods. “I don’t mind.”

“Very well, then.” Mitsuru hesitates before continuing, but decides the concern is worth airing. “It may come to nothing, but I suspect Iori won’t like this decision much.”

Minako smiles like she just heard a funny joke. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle Junpei.”

And she does, dragging Iori to one side of Tartarus’ lobby while Makoto wanders off to the other side and stares into space for a while. Mitsuru can’t make heads or tails of Makoto’s choices, but when Minako and Iori return to the group, Iori looks a bit less upset about being passed over. After Makoto wanders back, the four new members head up the stairs and into Tartarus, and Mitsuru settles into providing support and walking them through the basics of battle.

The twins’ Personas are… confusing. Mitsuru has never seen one that doesn’t match the classification system all Shadows fall under; in theory, yes, that system is a bit bigger than sees common use, but she wasn’t aware of any that deviated from the Magician-Hanged Man range, even the two notable successes of the robotics program. (Well, one success and one possible success, as Labrys was deactivated before anyone bothered to confirm why she deviated from her programming.)

And yet, Minako’s Persona is registering as Star, and her brother’s seems to be Fool. One of them is at the far end of the possible range, and the other’s cut the line to drop in at the very beginning. Either anomaly alone would stand out, but not to the same extent as both of them together.

And then Makoto _changes_ Personas during a battle, and Mitsuru finds herself even more confused. She may have to ask her father if he knows of any older research that may explain things. In any case, the change doesn’t distract him from the battle – if anything, it’s a decisive factor in the field team’s victory – and there’s no sense in complaining about being handed a clear advantage. Equally importantly, Takeba seems to have shaken off the worst of her reluctance to summon, and Iori, backing up her thought that he’s not dissimilar to Akihiko in some regards, doesn’t hesitate from the start.

When the four return from a thorough clean-up of the first floor, exhausted but triumphant, Mitsuru’s prepared to call the expedition a success.


End file.
